The Castle (IC) [M] {04}

[Angel]

Ketefe received the greater brunt of the girl's shriek, clapping her hands to her ears and yelping in pain. She forgot her own pain, though, when she watched Ian topple down the stairs.

"OhmygodIAN!" she yelled, running as fast as she safely could without tripping herself. Oh God.. he was already injured before. What if he's broken a rib or hit his head? Pray he's all right...

She finally ended up kneeling beside him, breathless. "Are you *pant* all right? *pant*"

[Boog]

"You're not dumb enough to think in such short terms and I'm not dumb enough to think you are. I've fought alongside the others; that's their most recent impression, and they'll remember that. Hell I've done more good for you than Jeremiah has anyway. And when you guide them out of this, when they don't need your eyes, they'll remember that you killed me, Sebastian. Stygian. He who left a woman lying open in an alleyway, wounds steaming up into the night.
But if you're just going to throw such a fit if you don't get your way..."
"I'll admit I'm... Not exactly the guy you're familiar with," Bal chuckled, and scratched the back of his head, "But really, I only want to help," the personae mostly-lied. He often had many things on his mind other than philanthropy, but in this case he was on their side, "And you gotta admit," now there was that slightly more honest grin, "I've been going through demons like paranoia through common sense. It really so bad, having me around for a while?"

[lucas marcone]

When Ketefe reached Ian he was curseing more than an irish sailor. When he'd settled down he answered. "I think I'll be-" he started getting up "Oi! Fine. Dunno what to make of this though." He lifted his hand and his pinky was broken and dangleing by the flesh of the first knuckle. if he held his hand level and on it's side his pinky would point straight to the floor. "Come on then. We need to grab my stuff and find the others. No doubt we can do more than be space fillers."

[Angel]

Ketefe made an appropriately grossed-out face at Ian's broken finger before nodding in agreement with the rat."I guess so. But I wouldn't do anything with that hand for a little bit. I don't know how to set broken bones, so unless you do, we should wait for a convenient time to get that fixed." By convenient, Ketefe partially meant if the others aren't busy healing their own injuries or the injuries of others. Hoping that everyone was safe (but doubting it), she straightened up and looked back at Ian.

"So where's this detour you mentioned? Or did we just take it?" She suppressed a smirk at that. Not the time to be joking...

[Stygian]

'You?' Stygian said, raising his left eyebrow a bit. 'Oh, yes. You. That.' He felt a fang with his tongue for a second, then slowly stood up and lowered his gun. 'My point still stands, whoever the Hell you are,' he hissed, and then turned, pacing back toward the other end of the corridor, against the chapel.
   Then, while he walked past, Stygian looked to the side and over the others. 'Good, Ryn. We appreciate it,' he said, as if he had just heard the tigress' words. 'Let's just hope we don't have to use it.'

[lucas marcone]

"I'm guessing....yes?" Ian looked down the hall "Ah! Definately yes!"  He ran up to and in heis room long enought to get his belt. then he made for the hallway where he last remembered that spider wench. There they were two gleaming firearms, but before they could get to them two shadows gooped out of the wall foarming two of the weaker shadows. "hey Ketefe let's see of they'll work." Ian took a clip out of one of his belt's pockets and poped out a UV round. He smacked it's butt end against a wall to activate it. and tossed it at the shadows.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel took advantage of the momentary break to pull more magical power into her reserves, giving her easier access to it when the fight resumed. She saw the scuffle break out between Stygian and Jeremiah and wondered what was going on, but it was over before she could figure out what was happening. She did hear the bat say that Jeremiah needed fixing and wondered if he had been taken over by a denizen of hell as Ketefe had. But after a moment Stygian just turned and walked away so the dragon hoped she was wrong. A traitor in the ranks was the last thing they needed. She did put an ice spell to hand, just in case.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog raised an eyebrow at the sudden interlude between Sebastian and Jeremiah, the wolf almost on the verge of saying something, but not quite. Something -was- wrong with the little frog. He had seen things simply crumble to dust merely touching him - last he knew, that wasn't something Jeremiah could do.

He stayed silent, however, too tired to do anything at the moment. They seemed to be working it out. He simply stood in the light of Rynkura's staff, feeling the healing energies suffuse his body, and almost drowsed to sleep against the wall. His light head seemed to gain a bit of strength back to it, as did his arm. He didn't feel quite like a piece of jelly anymore.

He slid his sword back into the sheath at his side. At least his belt hadn't been eaten away. That really would have put him in a bad position.
As soon as the wolf started feeling stronger, he pushed himself off the wall, and sighed. Sebastian started pacing down the corridor towards the chapel, and tapping the side of his head, the wolf started following him.
He kept his hand on his sword hilt, his ears perked.

[Stygian]

The slow, deliberate but decisive walk down the hallway toward the chapel entry seemed more like the last steps down death row to Stygian, and it was quite visible. The gloom and dark of the castle seemed to cling even deeper to the bat, as if he were walking in a faint shroud of murky black. It wasn't something detrimental - actually the gloom and the dark brought him strength. Yet as always it was something that came at the cost of taint and an inner darkness as deep as that without.
   'Let's... get going here. Before we regret it,' he said wearily, just audible back through the corridor.

- -

The fluid, ghastly things formed out of the darkness hissed and immediately came darting over the floor against Ian, half loping and half slithering across the floor like some viscous gas that had arbitrarily decided on taking on the shape of fangs and claws at times and snarl while it did. The things were halted in their tracks though by a blue light, the only visual part of the burn of the UV-charges, the first one hissing and being burned until it was seen no more, the other leaping back out of sight with an unpleasant sound. Being as small as it was, the UV round didn't last long though, and in just a few seconds the creature was back, slipping out from behind a corner and darting against Ian like a black Mamba.

- -

The little girl was ferocious, even though in her anger she was still crying as if in pain and left alone without any hope whatsoever. That was most probably her situation, actually. And she seemed to want to take out her pain on the fae as well. When she was thrown back, and burned with the light, she let out another terrible shriek that made Bam's head tremble, the light flicker and every piece of metal and glass in the hall whine and quiver.
   'I HATE IT! I HATE IT!' she howled. 'YOU DESERVE IT ALL!'

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel took a deep breath and followed the bat and the wolf down the hall. She was shivering and obviously couldn't blame it on cold. Even Stygian seemed exhausted. She made her feet move before nerves pinned her to the spot and kept her from traveling through the clinging shadows. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

[Boog]

All the while contemplating bloody vengance on the bat, Bal gathered up his axe and followed the others.
Real prone to sticking up for ya, this lot is. I thought they liked you?
Shaddap Bal, I know what you're up to.

[Stygian]

Entering the chapel was like entering another world. Their first visit had been bad, but now it really seemed that they were on the very doorstep of Hell, a sensation most familiar from their venture into the faux world of the painting before. The cracked columns stood tall and shadowed and the statues hovered dark and intimidating around them, hard and uncaring as the stone they were crafted from and tall as giants. By comparison Stygian seemed small as a child as he walked in, the whiteness of the fur on his bare torso tinted gray and amber by the light streaming from candles and the ghastly glow beyond the windows.
   The bat stopped halfway down the midship, tightening his grip on the dark pistols in his hands and standing tall.
   'Come on out, Asmodai! I know you can hear me!' he called to the dark. His voice seemed to disturb the great hall, and when the echo died down a stillness more dead and silent yet somehow also more tense than before gripped the chapel.
   'Be still, you filth!' The sudden growl of a voice seemed to shake the very bones of those present, even though it seemed so distant. 'I have not the time for you. You will wait. Then I shall deal with you and your "friends".'

[Aisha deCabre]

With the help of her staff, Rynkura's process of healing was fairly quick.  The others were quickly regaining some of their strength, and with any luck she certainly hoped the potion wouldn't come to be used.  Sometimes she would glance back at Aisha, who was still in a crouched position on the floor, nearly standing; at least the panther had stopped quivering.

During the respite, she hadn't been inclined to pay too much attention to Stygian's words...not until they turned harsh and he had suddenly whirled on the strange frog.  Rynkura followed everyone else's gaze to the spectacle as the bat had him by the throat, and then, a gun pointed to his head.  And all the while, Jeremiah had a look that was unreadable as he spoke back...the tigress felt like jumping in to stop the banter...but it ended swiftly enough and left a strange air surrounding the frog.

Soon, things still went back to the intensity in the air that it had before, with a bit of a difference.  Sighing, Rynkura shook her head and passed Jeremiah with a bit of a cautionary look.  Then, she looked at the others as they started to leave, and picked her staff from the floor after those who needed to use it, did.  And finally, she turned to her student, expectantly.  "Well?"

Aisha was silent as she pushed herself up on her good arm...she was wobbly on her legs, but she was quick to try regaining her balance.  There was a dark, dangerous look in her eyes.  It seemed her resolve had returned...but it was hard to tell what she was thinking...that is, until she spoke.  "Let me...at...the demons...my friends won't...fight without me..."

The tigress shook her head.  "You won't be fighting just yet.  Don't waste your energy on anger.  Just focus on making your muscles work again.  You'll be protected."  And with that, she started along with the others, slow enough for her to catch up.  And slowly, she did, walking and lightly stumbling as well.  Silent and slightly withdrawn, while still holding Gareeku's cloak close around her otherwise shirtless form, she kept near to him, and to Rynkura as she looked forward to where they were walking.

The chapel...where it all started...why the hell...did we come here...?

But its appearance when they arrived, so radically different than when it was before, started shaking her to the very core again, making the panther duck her head...as it nearly did Rynkura when a dark voice answered Stygian's call.  She gripped her staff tightly, ears pinned to her head as she regarded the bat, and looked forward again.  "Asmodai...?" she muttered.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

The little girl was ferocious, even though in her anger she was still crying as if in pain and left alone without any hope whatsoever. That was most probably her situation, actually. And she seemed to want to take out her pain on the Fae as well. When she was thrown back, and burned with the light, she let out another terrible shriek that made Bam's head tremble, the light flicker and every piece of metal and glass in the hall whine and quiver.
   'I HATE IT! I HATE IT!' she howled. 'YOU DESERVE IT ALL!'

"There There Kit, No one deserves this more than you " Says Bam softy... The child hits and beats the Fae.  The ball of light magic shatters into tiny sprites and stars. Bam stands takes to blows, then she hugs the raging child to herself as the tiny sprites and stars start orbiting around them and start to brighten. 

The Fae heals herself and the child as they are enveloped by a light sphere.

"Come Child, You are loved and you are not alone anymore" said the shining Fae.

PBH

[lucas marcone]

The 'thing' jumped Ian biteing his right forearm. It's putrid serraded teeth ripping  a lot of flesh off the bone. "HELP ME! GET THIS THING OFF ME!"

[Angel]

Ketefe followed Ian to the hall, smiling when she saw his guns. Good. Now we're both competent. But before they could retrieve the guns, a pair of black, shadowy demon-creatures slithered out of the wall. Ketefe cringed and took a step back at first, but quickly narrowed her eyes, drew her sword and took an attack stance. Ian lobbed a UV round at them, and it worked for a moment - but then they shook it off and began to attack the rat, rendering his forearm to a bloody massacre.

"Shit!" the feline hissed. She wasted no time in darting over to the vicious creatures and slicing at them quickly, nimbly avoiding causing Ian any damage.

[lucas marcone]

Ian was a smart boy even though he didn't look the part. While Ketefe swung away, Ian remained still as he could. She hit the creature on him  and it took most of his flesh off that arm. When all was clear he grabbed both his guns in a quick sweeping action with his left arm and ran back to and past Ketefe. "Come on! I have to stop the bleeding then we have to get to our friends!" Ian was being carried by more than adrenaline. He was able to shut out most of the pain by focusing on how he needed to help his new friends, even at the cost of his body if need be. That wouldn't be neccessary though as Mel and Rankura could probably heal him. Well at least he hoped so. Even so, he did feel dizzy and a little cold.

[Stygian]

'You've had a thousand years of time, grandfather. There will be no more waiting now,' Stygian hissed back at the voice, slowly walking forward and scanning between and behind the columns on each side with his gaze.
   'I will not answer to a lowly creature as you. Destroy him!' the voice responded, and immediately a gust of wind ran through the chapel, extinguishing the lights and plunging it into almost complete darkness.

[Angel]

After re-sheathing her sword and taking a few breaths, Ketefe sprinted down the hall after Ian. "WAIT! If there's one thing I know, it's how to stop bleeding!" She slowed a little as she pulled off her mask. "If you stop a second, maybe you won't collapse before we reach the others!"

[Boog]

Bal wasn't too worried by the imagery before him, the pale and dischivelled bat standing in the dark and cavernous architectural feat that was the Chapel. He spent most of his mind in Jeremiah's head, and one really doesn't want to meet anyones subconscious in a back alley late at night. The voice from the shadows, similar and yet not to the bat's own...
And then the lights went out. FUCK!
Bal had no problem with what he'd seen, but in this sort of situation it was best to see SOMETHING. He readied the axe and opened Jeremiah's eyes wide as they adjusted to the light.
"Alright, what the hell are we looking at here?" He said, half question to whoever knew the answer and half thinking aloud.

[Sunblink]

Unnerved as she was by Stygian suddenly lifting Jeremiah off of the ground and menacing him with his pistol in-between their virulent exchange, Keaton found that she was too encumbered by her agitating lack of fervor and residual dizziness to intervene. Around her nobody else reacted in the frog's defense, perhaps reflective of how noticeable his previous, mercurially altered disposition was in the midst of battle. Most wouldn't have assumed Keaton had noticed, but at the end of the bloodshed, when she was teetering in and out of collapsing, she had witnessed his unstable expression which could be exhibited only by a madman. She couldn't think much of it at the time, but now, as she was struggling to regain all memories which had drifted out of the sieve of her delusion-hazed mind, she was reminded.

Keaton recalled Jeremiah being possessed by the spiders, and pondered if one of those insidious arachnids had latched onto the amphibian again. He was with the suspiciously absent Sal, after all. But if that were the case Stygian would've destroyed the spider by now, she suspected. Either way, the confrontation ended without relative violence, although both participants looked rather ruffled. All attention was diverted to the entrance of the chapel.

Whether they liked it or not, they were proceeding into the heart of Hell itself.

Keaton chose to use every step she took to restore some of her exhausted energy and increase awareness of her surroundings, especially as they progressively grew darker and darker, as though the corruption was creeping onto every inch and corner of the Castle. Amber firelight, produced in flickering fumes around the dark and desolate chamber, served as the only illumination, as sparse as it was, providing the only contrast against the disgustingly vile darkness. How Keaton could call darkness, her weapon of choice and magical element, with such revilement, was initially appalling to her, but it soon became understandable. Nothing was sacrosanct here. Especially not the shadows.

That horrid voice spoke, thundering against Keaton's eardrums. Gripping Catastrophe tighter, Keaton braced herself, teeth clamping together like an ivory beartrap and eyes sweeping with uncertainty around the dimly-lit chamber, only for what little light that was afforded to extinguish, dying against the gust of wind that inexplicably sped past. Normally Keaton would be able to see in the darkness. But there was something sinisterly wrong with this, as though it had muffled her magically-endowed ocular replacement. Against her better judgment, Keaton could clearly remember a passage she had read a while back: it seemed appropriate.

...And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[lucas marcone]

Ian stopped and turned around. "I'm looking for a room to do this in. These halls feel. um... tight. Yeah, tight. Oh man, i feel sick." He was trying hard not to look at the wound, and even harder to stop it from gushing. He was failing at both, very badly. "Hay um, sorry for putting you through this....I..oh, I know I'm more of a hasstle than it's worth. Damn I'm gonna need new clothes when it's all done." His mind was wandering.

[Angel]

Ketefe listened to Ian ramble as he was rapidly losing blood. Any more and he'd probably faint. "Okay. You need this. Now."

She untied the mask, which was still knotted, and retied it tightly around Ian's upper arm, about an inch from the actual wound. She wrapped it around his arm twice before doing the actual knot. Can't afford to take chances at this point.

"That's the best I can do for now," she said, rubbing her eyes once to get used to having no mask on. "C'mon. Let's keep going, and hope that we find the others while you're still conscious." She walked to his other side and slipped her arm under his, supporting his weight in case he really did faint.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

When the lights blew out and plunged them deeper into the malignant darkness Mel hurriedly created a large ball of light and tossed it upward. It settled into a gentle bobbing float in nearly the location that the chandelier had formerly occupied before the earlier battle. It seemed a puny firefly in relation to the consuming darkness.

[lucas marcone]

Ian worked at loading his UV clips as Ketefe led him in the direction of the others. When he had one loaded he handed the gun to Ketefe. "Just in case." He said with a slight smile.

[Stygian]

The darkness lasted for a few, fateful seconds. Mel lifted her illuminating orb above them, casting light out from precisely amid and above them. And then it was as if the hair on their bodies lifted with it. Something seemed to fizzed out there, in the darkness beyond the faces of the statues.
   A flash of light exploded in the middle of the group, and then they were violently hurled to the sides, splintered stone stinging them and sparks leaping for a second before disappearing. Something moved like an invisible stormcloud through the dark, trails of purplish light arcing off it.
   Somewhere to the right, Stygian's guns exploded into a series of flashes and fiery streaks of bullets tore through the air. 'Change of plans!' he shouted, though only Cog and Jeremiah could hear it. 'Spread out! Do not bunch up!'

[Boog]

"Ah hell," Bal muttered, propping himself back up with the long handle of the axe. It was dark, and he could barely see a damn thing, and he didn't know half the magic Jeremiah did so he couldn't even light the place up. He held the axe with the blade fairly far from him, swishing and probing in the darkness for whatever they were up against. By some marvelous stroke of luck he didn't hit any of his allies.
Wait, did something just move?
Where?
I'm not the only one using the eyes! Check!
You keep focusing on one thing or an- wait, THERE!
Where?
THERE! There was a slight nudge, like a fly trying to push your head out of the way. Dammit Bal, use my eyes!
Where are you trying to direct- oh.
Yeah. Oh. That sums it up, you freaking idiot.
Watch it, you little fuckwit. I can get you back. Oh how I can do that. Permanently break your hands, put out your eyes, sign us into an institution next time I'm in charge-
And go through life as a blind, handless invalid whenever you'd try to take over?
Silence.
You're just a blunt instrament, Bal. Don't try to do the thinking.
It really was interesting, how easily they traded roles.
Bal ground Jeremiah's teeth and backed away from the THING, crouching by one of the columns. It moved, Bal sped up.
"I see it! It's-!"
It had already moved, purplish trail fading away.
"FUCK!"

[Aisha deCabre]

After the room had fallen into almost complete darkness, Rynkura had no more time to think about this entity before them...whose voice was drenching the atmosphere and the minds of the adventurers down to the core of their soul with uncertainty and fear.  The chapel was the heart of this hell, and the creature its composure, she was sure of it.

At least the felids and others of nocturnal nature in the room would regain their eyesight quite quickly...her staff had a natural glow to it; it wasn't enough to cast light onto everyone, but it served for Mel to try taking a sphere of light into her own hands and toss it into the ceiling...where its illumination was only barely up.

The following explosion of light rocked the group off of their feet; even Rynkura was thrown back some, though the claws on her feet and the staff digging into the floor kept her balance.  "Damn!" she cursed as Sebastian leaped straight into the fray, guns blazing.  She dashed out of the way, hoping to spot this invisible creature coursing its way through the darkness...its form trailed with a glow of purple as the only clue to its existence.

"Aisha!" she called to her student.  "Stand back!  And take this!  That barrier won't be the only thing that must be used to defend you."  Quickly, the tigress took the Dragonblade from its position on her sash and tossed it to the panther, who had to switch thinking to her left hand in order to catch it.  It wasn't hard physically to stay out of the way...but mentally...

The panther just tried to saunter into the shadows...it was easy, with her fur blending quite well into it.  And meanwhile, the tigress's arm was surging with electric magic, and because of a lack of good vision, she tried to pinpoint where the bat's fiery bullet streaks were whizzing...and a white-hot bolt arched like a whip through the air against the thing to hopefully catch it.  What is this...?

[Prof B Hunnydew]

After a few minutes of the raging child's abuse, Bam had had enough. 

"Enough Kit, Stop this, you are not alone.  It is time to feel the light."

The sprites and sprinkles of the light magic stop orbiting around them and quickly spears inward.  A thousand needles of light magic strike them, and the darkness starts to bleed out of the child.

PBH

[Stygian]

With a paling, atonal shriek, the little thing in Bambi's arms began to singe and dissolve. Feeling the very pain of the twisted little thing bleed out and disappear into the air, it was all the feline could do not to tremble.
   The moment passed too slow and much too fast for anything important to register to Bam's senses. The vengeful little thing in her arms crumbled and dissolved into flaky darkness and then nothing, and she was left standing in the music hall alone.

- -

Another blast directed right at Stygian shook the hall and sent sparks and dust cascading through the side of the chapel. Both the bat and Cogidubnus had been hurled, the one into a wall and the other against one of the benches to the side. The dark thing still moved between the columns and statues, a floating thunderstorm whose position was only possible to tell due to the crackles of electricity trailing its form like thunder between clouds.
   Destroyed... a voice spoke from somewhere. This household is destroyed. Vengeance will come...